A child left standing in the grass, watching his or her possessions go up in smoke in a tragic house fire. A child facing serious illness and a looming surgical procedure. A child left orphaned, facing the unknown.

It’s these situations, these images that drive people like Conni Douvier and the more than 90 volunteers who turned out Saturday for the 14th Annual Project Linus National “Make A Blanket Day” at the El Kadir Shrine Club in Kirksville. Together, they made and accepted donations of 335 blankets that will go toward providing comfort to northeast Missouri children in need.

“We had a wonderful turnout,” said Douvier, North Central Missouri Chapter coordinator for Project Linus.

She said volunteers came out from as far as Kahoka and Moberly to help the cause. “It was our biggest turnout yet.”

The volunteers spanned all decades of life, with some in their 80s or 90s and the youngest, age 7, all sewing on their sewing machines.

“Some have had children sick, ill, injured, who understand what it is like firsthand to have a child traumatized,” Douvier said. “Most just have huge hearts. They are good, caring people who want to make a difference in their community.”

While Project Linus chapters across the nation have been asked to donate after events such as Hurricane Katrina or the earthquake in Haiti, most of the byproducts for their efforts remain local. Douvier said it is appreciated, too, telling of countless times where foster parents have written with stories of foster children who received a blanket when entering the system, and years later still carry it as a valued part of their life.